Things you should do before your next interview

(MoneyWatch) Is a job interview on your radar for the near future? You probably put a lot of effort into preparing your resume and cover letter, lining up references, and building a portfolio. But your job isn't done now that an interview is scheduled.

Alison Green recently described a list of things you should do before every job interview in US News and World Report, and she includes a few items that many people gloss over or forget entirely. If you are job hunting, it's a good idea to keep this list in mind:

Take a test drive. Do you know how to get to the interview site? Do you know how long it'll take? Find out for sure by driving the route the day before, if you can. If you live far away, this might not be possible -- but at the very least, you can verify the route in both Google Maps and Bing Maps, to make sure they agree. If you're being flown in for the interview, make sure you know how to get from the hotel to the business before you get up for the interview.

Try on your outfit. Personally, I'm guilty of not paying much attention to my clothes before an interview or some other similarly important event. It's just not on my radar, and more than once I've been bitten by a suit jacket that no longer fits me right or a bad stain on my pants. Make sure your clothes are as ready as you are.

Scrutinize the job description. Even if you got all the way to the interview by only scanning the job description, now it's game time. Study the ad line by line so you know exactly what you're expected to do in the role, and so you can take notes on any unfamiliar terms or tools you should know about before showing up for the big day.

Prep for the interview. Alison breaks this out into a number of items, but they're all aspects of interview prep I have discussed at length on a number of occasions in the past. Do your research, prep questions you can ask your interviewer, research the company and your interviewers, and practice with someone else if at all possible.